The announcements have been years in the making: On April 28, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced proposed rules for a ban on menthol cigarettes, after a recent announcement saying it would move forward on a menthol ban, following a previous announcement saying a menthol ban was imminent.
Robert Califf, the new FDA commissioner, has now presented the planned ban to a congressional subcommittee. The proposed rule would also prohibit flavors in cigars, including cigarillos.
Explicitly, the proposed law would prohibit “menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes”—meaning that “a cigarette or any of its components or parts (including the tobacco, filter, wrapper, or paper, as applicable) shall not contain, as a constituent (including a smoke constituent) or additive, menthol that is a characterizing flavor of the tobacco product or tobacco smoke.” Nobody would be able to manufacture, distribute, sell or offer for the distribution of sale any such cigarette or its components and parts.
Alex Norcia – Filter – 2022-04-28.